: But you're missing out one important key point: Cortana's comment about 'must
: have sustained more damage than we thought' is directed at Foe Hammer. Not
: the MC.

: If it had been the latter and 'off radio', then it would have been in keeping
: with what has already occurred and completely by-the-book.

: The fact that it's directed at Foe Hammer who has, based on the storyline
: already played out, no knowledge of the real reason for the core meltdown,
: makes it smack of misdirection on Cortana's part.

What bothers me (and puts me in the camp of those who are beginning to believe that you have a real point here :) ) is that her panicked report to Foe Hammer ("Negative, negative! We have a wildcat destabilization of the ship's fusion core. The engines must have sustained more damage than we thought!") cannot really be interpreted as "oh, man, blowing up those cores was worse than I expected" because she tells the MC to trigger trigger that precise type of destabilization:

Fusion reactor number one destabilizing. Use explosives on the other three reactors. That should be enough to trigger a wildcat explosion of the engines.

That, to me, says that 'wildcat destabilization' was not an unintended consequence that sped up the process - it was THE GOAL.